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Honestly, it seems to me that "true ensemble cast" is incredibly rare in all entertainment. It's much more common for there to be a tier of character importance: the lead character (sometimes a shared-lead), the two secondary leads, and the one/two/three supporting leads. That's because you're trying to tie your narrative together around a common theme and developing five parallel narratives of equal weighting and tying them strongly together is difficult, both for the writer and also for the audience -- it can cause the focus to wonder and the central message to be diluted. Even writing five characters of equal significance to a single on-going plot is difficult. I'm honestly struggling now to think of any anime that does not follow that sort of pyramid pattern, particularly in a one-cour show. (Heck, this show even shows the pyramid point blank multiple times in the show. And if you want a really easy example of this pattern, look no further than sentai.)

(The only example of a "true ensemble show" I can think of right now is probably the American sitcom Friends, and that had a lot more narratives on the go and a lot more time to develop them. Plus, it was still fundamentally a sitcom, and less of a drama.)

Well, I can think of some sci-fi shows (especially Star Trek) where there's a definite ensemble cast feel, but even there certain main cast characters tend to get more focus than other main cast characters. Star Trek flows well with your schematic, as we can see it going from Kirk to Spock and Bones to everybody else.

Now that I think about it more, the amount of focus each character gets in this show makes perfect sense if we interpret the anime as being presented from Wakana's perspective.

1) Konatsu starts out seeming like the main character because she's the main catalyst that really pushes Wakana back into loving music.

2) Then there's Wakana's arc, the longest of all of them.

3) Then there's Sawa's arc, and there's a couple scenes where Wakana tries to help out her friend Sawa. Sawa is at her most important in the show when her issues are most easily compared and contrasted to Wakana's, and also when Sawa's issues have the most impact on Wakana.

4) Then there's Wien's arc, and I argued before that I think that Wien's unabashed, passionate love of the Ganbarangers concept and theme song was instructive to Wakana. So Wien is at his most important in this show when he has the most impact on Wakana.

5) Tanaka doesn't get that much focus, and maybe that's because of the main cast he's the one who has the least impact on, or connection to, Wakana specifically.

6) Even Sawa/Tanaka is developed in this "side-story" way that's kind of reflective of how important a friend's romance would be in a teenage girl's life.

If we think of Tari Tari as "Wakana's story", everything really falls into place, imo.

To be fair, this ensemble cast was full of strangers aside from Konatsu and Sawa. So when the show focused on one character, the others aren't seen a lot. This was the case up until Wakana's act. After that they gelled more, and it kinda grew as the show went on.

And I too don't think the guys got shafted too much. Sure they didn't have any deep issues (neither did Konatsu I feel), but they still had an appreciable personality. They still felt like people. Tanaka was kinda determined and usually spoke his mind. Somewhat perceptive too. We knew he loved badminton from episode 1 and that didn't waver. It's not like he gave up after losing. Does the story automatically stink because he didn't go through some sort of depression process as a coming-of-age story? Like he said after he lost, he mentally visualised the match to prepare for next time. He still practiced a lot and still made time for the choir. He noticed Wien had an issue. He had the best line when the group sang to Sawa. He took it on himself to seek help with the background and costumes too. And he still managed to fall in love and then lose that person. I thought he ended up having a hell of a lot happen to him. And I personally found his badminton lost was one of the more memorable parts of the show.

Wien, outside of his arc, portrayed a foreigner rather well. Forcing himself to fit in with the group. Be gullible yet passionate. Provide a helping hand to Tanaka in badminton (short lived as it was) and the choir. And sure the whole gambared thing was over the top, and maybe it was just me, but I got the sense that Jan wasn't exactly the healthiest of persons to begin with, fueling Wien's hero instinct. Plus, he kinda did his fair share in contributing to the group for the musical.

And the show managed to have excellent side-characters. It would have been a balancing act. To focus a lot more on everyone like they did for Wakana, they'd have no room to explore the side-characters. Again, for a 13 episode show, it covered a hell of a lot, well. More than some 2-cour shows do.

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I think what make Tari Tari to me, other than the welcomed importance of adult characters and boys getting more focus than other shows in its genre, is that it managed (in my eyes) to hit the "middle road". It was enough dramatic without being miserabilist or downright manipulative, enough comedic without losing its main focus, and enough positivist without turning sickeningly saccharine.

It never aimed to be groundbreaking, it tried to tell a story and stayed true to it until the end. The sum of all its parts have come up to me as solid, and this is what I have come to appreciate.

Tari Tari is one of those series where I regret to not have jumped in earlier. But also one of those that have pleasantly surprised me.

The cuteness! Already good enough as she is, but would have been better if she comes with Dora.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dawnstorm

- For a highschool anime, the grown ups were very well developed. It gives the core cast context and makes them more understandable.

I would mostly agree to that. Wakana's parents, vice principal and principal, those people at the market, parents of Sawa, even that band of old men (in the short screentime that they had) who are friends with Wakana's mom felt like real people in my opinion.

Well, I don't know, I can agree with Triple_R points, but I too was expecting something more from the male ones. Surely the frog bro analogy in some way gives the measure of their characterization in the show, like something with potential who has not been explored.
Personally speaking If I had to nitpicking I didn't like the childish characterization they gave to them in comparison to their female counterparts, but that's just me.
But the musical surely self explains well the differentiation between them.

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